Objective
Streptococcus pneumoniae is a major pathogen causing invasive (pneumonia, meningitis, bacteraemia) and non-invasive (acute otitis media, sinusitis) disease in young children and in elderly and/or immuno-compromised adults. The molecular mechanisms underlying S. pneumoniae virulence are not fully understood. Single-cell methodologies, including the sub-cellular localization of proteins by fluorescence microscopy, have been instrumental in studying fundamental processes in bacteria and these methodologies are potentially of great use to investigate S. pneumoniae virulence. Recently, we have developed a cell biology toolkit for S. pneumoniae, allowing us to perform gene expression and protein localization studies at the single cell level in live cells. A major S. pneumoniae virulence factor is pneumolysin which is encoded by the ply gene. Pneumolysin is highly immunogenic and binds to cholesterol in the membrane of host cells and its haemolytic activity induces cell lysis. Pneumolysin is one of the best characterized virulence factors of S. pneumoniae, but surprisingly little is known about its transcriptional regulation. Interestingly, pneumolysin is produced in the cytoplasm of S. pneumoniae and can only be released by lysis of the producer. This represents a fascinating paradox: if all cells lyse at the same time, the clonal lineage becomes extinct. Thus, mechanisms must exist to ensure that not all cells release or produce pneumolysin at the same time. This proposal is aimed at unraveling the molecular mechanisms underlying heterogeneous pneumolysin gene regulation and release using single cell analytical techniques. The host institute has excellent knowledge and facilities to perform S. pneumococcus molecular genetics and cell biology, and together with the single cell biology expertise of the researcher, this partnership should provide important insights into S. pneumoniae pathogenesis.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine pneumology
- natural sciences biological sciences molecular biology molecular genetics
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- natural sciences biological sciences cell biology
- natural sciences physical sciences optics microscopy
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP7-PEOPLE-2009-RG
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
9712CP Groningen
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.